chicken cauliflower chile verde chili [instant pot]
What heirloom tomatoes are to mid July and esoteric squashes are to mid September, Special Peppers (led by the Hatch variety) are to August 1st, the day on which heroic quantities magically overflow the featured seasonal produce bin at every Whole Foods in California. Living in a place without clear demarcations between seasons, I rely on produce shifts to mark the arrival of late summer because I know the weather won’t. The arrival of the Special Peppers signals the start of the summer-fall shoulder season I call Back To Routine, the time to wind down, reset, get practical, and get ready for deep fall Shroom Season.
However, this is an application of Special Peppers so twisted I almost didn’t post it, because wtf do you even call it? It’s kind of a chile verde, but chicken instead of pork, and more of a stew than a braise, and it has beans so it really is more like a chili, and also I blended a bunch of cauliflower into the base (reminiscent of the trick I use for Clean Tortilla Soup) so it’s got this thick base that is also a vegetable, and I really just don’t know how to explain any of this to people. So I decided to just play it straight: it’s all of those things, and proud of it; an incredibly satisfying, medium-light, reasonably clean, an excellent vehicle for cilantro and varietal hot sauces and Greek yogurt and tortilla chips and whatever other textural excitement your life is currently yearning for.
The annoying thing about Special Peppers—at least all of the big meaty ones—is that they typically require a labor-intensive roasting and peeling process in order to even use them. Some people dedicate a whole Sunday just prepping them to freeze. I am not an annual pepper processor; I do not have that kind of time. I also suck at planning ahead and prefer my gratification instant. That is why this chile verde chili thing uses the pressure cooker instead, which can soften the raw chopped peppers with their impossible tough skins into an edible (and fully blendable) state in about 30 minutes. The reason this works, despite no extra liquid, is because the pressure cooker uses the water in the peppers and tomatillos to create its own broth within the first few minutes of cooking. I’ve made this at least twice a year for the last six years and have never gotten the dreaded BURN message.
The other pro tip here: an immersion blender. You really don’t want to be moving the entire contents of a steaming hot pressure cooker insert over to a blender, and because of that, a stick really is the way to go. My stick is a Vitamix, and once I’ve taken out the chicken to shred it, I use it to process everything in the Instant Pot. The cauliflower, whose pectin acts as a thickening agent, becomes nearly undetectable in flavor or texture at this stage—but if you are not a cauli fan, or prefer a purist’s approach to the bastardization that is chili-chile verde, just leave it out. The only difference will be that your chili verde chili will be a much darker green.
Recipe
Is it a chile verde, a chili, or a chili-chile, and what is that cauliflower doing here? Life’s too short to ask questions. Just dump it in the Instant Pot—no roasting required—and blend for my go-to tender, spicy, healthy-ish, “slow-cooked” chicken cauliflower chili-chile verde in under an hour.
Effortful time: 15 minutes
Total time: about 1 hour
Serves: 6
you need
In the pressure cooker
2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 tomatillos, skins removed and rinsed
2 poblano chiles, chopped into 3-4 pieces
3 Anaheim chiles, chopped into 3-4 pieces
2 serrano or jalapeño chiles, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 yellow onion, quartered
2 tsp. ground cumin
12 oz. cauliflower rice
1 tbsp. white vinegar
Salt
To finish
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
Juice from 2 limes
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
For serving
More cilantro
Greek yogurt
Tortilla chips
Avocado slices
Lime wedges
make it
Do some prep. Roughly chop peppers into a couple pieces, discarding the big seed pods and stems. Quarter onions, peel garlic.
Toss everything from the “pressure cooker” list into the pressure cooker. Ta da!
Seal and set to high pressure, 10 minutes. Let that hang out for a bit. Allow to depressurize naturally 5 minutes before you release.
Remove the chicken to a board and allow to cool slightly.
Blend the contents of the pot until smooth and thickened. I use an immersion blender for this. The cauliflower will vanish at this stage, thickening the soup similarly to masa.
Finish the chili. Add rinsed beans and lime juice to the pot and switch to Saute-Low to simmer, 5 minutes. Shred the chicken and fold back into the base. Stir in the cilantro. Top with fun stuff and serve.